Behind the Scenes
by alicenotinwonderland
Summary: Rose discovers there's more to James than just the cool, indifferent prankster that she and everyone else believes he is.


**This is my second entry for Morning Lilies' 'Forgotten Family Ties' characters I had to write about were James and Rose and my prompt was 'train'.  
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**I'm not as happy with it as my other story, but I hope you like it! Please read and review!  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own HP**

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><p>Eleven-year-old Rose Weasley stepped out of her compartment to find Molly or Fred or Victoire. Albus had been trying to do magic and had somehow ended up giving himself waist length orange hair and a bright purple beard. She needed to find one of her older cousins to put him right before they reached Hogwarts.<p>

Rose looked up and down the corridor with some anxiety. Her trepidation, however, was not because it was her first time on the Hogwarts Express but because she was on a _train_. She generally had bad luck around trains.

On her third birthday, her mother had baked a train-shaped cake. Roxanne had wanted to cut it too and a food fight had ensued at the end of which, Rose had fallen face-first into the cake. She remembered James laughing uproariously at her and Albus waving a fork at her, trying to get some of the icing until James had pulled him back.

On her fifth birthday, she had been given a train set. There was a park made only for wizard children near her house and she had taken it there. A tall boy, at least four years older than her, had demanded the train set. She had refused and he had got into a fight with her (yes, a nine year old against a five year old!). By the time the adults had separated them, Rose had a scraped knee and green hair (a result of some accidental magic).

Two years later, the same boy, Brandon Wilson pushed her when she was passing him in the same park. She had stumbled, but wouldn't have fallen if she hadn't tripped over some kid's toy train. She had twisted her ankle during that incident.

When she was eight, her parents had taken her to a Muggle amusement park. She had sat alone in the children's train ride because she and Al had been fighting that day. To her bad luck, a terrified six year old boy had sat beside her. He had clutched her wrist tightly all through the ride as though it was the safety bar. When the train had gone over a series of gentle hills, he had gone green and had been sick all over her feet.

When she was nine, her family and Al's family had gone shopping for James' first year. Her parents took her on the Underground. Unfortunately, Hugo had become claustrophobic and threw a tantrum, screaming to be let off the locomotive. In the confusion that followed and in the chaos when her parents got off at the next station, Rose had been pushed back by the horde of people entering the train. Fortunately, a kind old lady had helped the scared little girl get off at the next station and had waited with her till her anxious mother arrived in the next train.

Even the only time she had ever watched 'Thomas the Tank Engine' on their little television, disaster had struck. Lucy accidentally spilt water over the plugs and nearly set the house on fire.

So, it was with some hesitation that Rose now walked down the corridor. She didn't really hate trains though. She hated the fact that, since she was the older sibling and the more level-headed cousin of the lot, she was expected to take care of herself every time something bad happened. She did get a lot of love from her parents, but sometimes, she felt Hugo and all her younger cousins got more. After she'd fought with Brandon when she was five, her knee had just been bandaged and given a kiss and a smile. When Hugo fell, the adults had fussed over him just because he had cried for an hour (It hadn't even been a nasty scratch!).

When that little boy had thrown up all over her, her parents had just cleaned her up and they had all expected her to enjoy the rest of the day. Even when she had been left alone on the train, they had fussed over for a while until Hugo had begun to complain of claustrophobia again and all the attention went back to him.

Sometimes, all Rose wanted was someone to take care of _her._ Sometimes, she wished she had an older sibling.

Lost in her thoughts and munching on one of the chocolate frogs she had in her pocket, she didn't notice the tall boy backing out of his compartment. She crashed right into him and knocked his Pumpkin Pasty to the ground.

"Can't you see where you're going?" he snarled, looking at the remains of his pasty scattered all over the floor.

Rose looked up and her eyes widened. Brandon Wilson was standing in front of her, frowning darkly.

"_Please don't recognize me, please don't recognize me,"_ she prayed silently. "I'm sorry. I wasn't really paying attention. It won't happen again," she apologized quickly. She knew it would be foolish to fight a boy who was no longer as small as she was and who probably knew quite a bit of magic now.

"It better not," he grumbled. He peered at her face, recognition suddenly flashing in his eyes. "Well, well, well," he smirked. "If it isn't Rose Weasley. You're an itty bitty first year now, eh?"

"I'm _not_ that small. Yes, I'm a first year," she said defiantly.

"Well, since you knocked my lunch out of my hands and I can see your pocket bulging with sweets, I think you should give me your chocolate frogs," he said.

"I won't do that! I bet your friends have lots of lunch left in your compartment. You can just take some from them," she answered. She had saved her pocket money all summer to have enough for the train ride to Hogwarts and she wasn't about to give all her sweets to someone she disliked.

Wilson sighed theatrically. "Last time I saw you, you were a little brat who didn't know how to share. Guess you haven't changed much. You should know how to show some respect to your seniors."

Rose stepped back warily as he stepped closer, no doubt trying to snatch her sweets. She knew she couldn't take him on. She couldn't take care of herself at that moment, and there had never been anyone to take care of her.

"Last time she saw you, you were a big bully who couldn't' pick on someone his own size. Guess you haven't changed much either. You should know how to _earn_ some respect if you want it that bad," said a voice behind Rose. James Potter strode over to them and stood protectively in front of his smaller cousin.

Wilson's lip curled as he looked down at James. "You think _you_ can stop _me_ taking her chocolates, Potter? You're just a scrawny little third year." He lunged at Rose but James punched him in the face.

"Come on Rosie!" he said, grabbing Rose's hand and running down the train.

"Why you little-" Wilson cursed and ran after them. James pulled a Deflatable Deluxe Dungbomb from his pocket, inflated it with a tap of his wand and threw it at Wilson. It exploded at the older boy's feet, engulfing him in foul-smelling smoke. Coughing indignantly, Wilson chased after the two kids. "I'll get you for that Potter, just you wait!" he shouted.

"We're almost there, Rose," James muttered, pulling her along. Rose was confused as to _where_ James was taking her, but she was rather enjoying the feeling of someone else taking charge for a change.

James stopped outside a compartment just as Wilson pulled a dungbomb out of his own pocket. "Get ready to eat dung, Potter!" he shouted.

The compartment door slid open and the Head Girl, Ruth Walters stepped out. "Wilson, what _are_ you doing? I would think a fifth year would know better than to charge down the train waving Dungbombs about," she said disapprovingly, raising her eyebrows at the now sheepish-looking Wilson.

"He was trying to bully my cousin, Ruth. Then he started chasing after us. He's mad, probably should go to 's!" James said, his face the picture of bemused innocence at Wilson's seemingly insane behaviour.

"I highly doubt _you_ didn't play a part in driving him mad in the first place, Potter," said Mark Thomas as he too stepped out of the Prefects' carriage. He grinned at James. "However, since you're a third year with too much pent-up energy, you are still entitled to rush madly up and down the train. As for you Wilson, step into our compartment, please. We will need to talk about older students setting a good example for younger students."

Wilson followed the Heads inside sulkily.

Rose and James walked back up the train. "You alright, Rosie?" James asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. This is the last time I'm ever going near a train, though. I'm convincing mum to Apparate me next time," she groaned.

James chuckled. "Yeah, bad things do seem to happen a lot to you when you're around trains, don't they?"

"I don't have a single happy memory involving these metal monsters. It's not the trains that bother me though, it's the fact that everyone thinks I should be able to deal with whatever happens to me and my younger cousins by myself just because I'm the older, wiser sibling. It wouldn't be so bad for someone else to take care of me for a change," she sighed.

"Like I did just now?" James suggested.

"Yes, I really felt nice right now when you turned up there to fight for me. You took care of me. But you're James Potter, you aren't always this nice to me," she muttered.

James put his arm around his cousin's shoulder. "Rose, who stopped Al from attacking you with a fork on your third birthday?"

"You did."

"Who told you about the fairy that protected all little girls from big playground bullies when you were crying alone after fighting with Wilson on your fifth birthday? Who 'accidentally' melted that train set you hated? Who put sand in Wilson's pants for a week after he knocked you down two years later? Who bought you your favourite ice cream after that kid threw up over you in the amusement park? Who bought you 'Hogwarts: A History' after your adventure in the Underground when we went to Diagon Alley? Who gave Hugo a Canary Cream the same day because he made such an unnecessary fuss that made you sad? Who sent you Chocolate Frogs every day when you were grounded because you took the blame for nearly burning down the house because you knew Lucy was scared of being punished?"

Rose looked at James, realization dawning on her. "You did all of that on purpose? I thought you were just pranking Wilson and Hugo and even thought I was secretly happy, I didn't know you melted my train set on purpose. I thought you gave me your chocolate ice cream and the book because you didn't want either of them. I didn't even know you knew I was grounded. I thought you were just sending me Chocolate Frogs. You've been looking out for me the whole time without even telling me!"

"That's right, Rosie."

"But…but you laughed at me when I had cake all over me, you laughed when I tripped over that train set…you make fun of me all the time!"

James smiled at her. "You know me, Rosie. I have to live up to Teddy and everyone else. I have to look cool. But you know what? I'm a real softie when it comes to my favourite cousins. Every time you had a bad day because of a train, I tried to make it better for you. No one really looks after older siblings after a while when there are younger ones to take care of. We just look after ourselves…and each other."

"You could have said something! I didn't even realize you were being nice on purpose!" protested Rose.

"I have a reputation to keep, you know. James Potter is not nice," he said pompously. "Or at least, he appears not to be. I just wanted to see you smile. Who would help me annoy Al if you were sad?"

"I knew there was an ulterior motive," grinned Rose. She looked at him, smiling gratefully. "Thanks James. I don't know how many times I'm supposed to thank you, but I hope this makes up for it." She hugged him tightly. She didn't see the soft, satisfied smile that only a brother can get after making his sister happy appear on James' face.

"You can thank me by telling Al that you couldn't find _any_ of our older cousins. I want at least half of Hogwarts to see his new hair," he grinned.

"_You_ did that?" Rose demanded.

"I've been checking up on you all morning under the Invisibility Cloak. I know how much you hate trains. You were looking so nervous that I thought you could do with a laugh. Don't worry, Rose, you'll always have someone to take care of you," said James, his eyes twinkling.

Rose laughed. "Thank you! You're the best cousin ever!"

"No, Rosie," he said, showing his inner, kind, caring, brotherly side to her for a change, "I'm the best _big_ _brother_ ever!"

Rose definitely agreed.

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><p><strong>Did you like it? I was trying to show James as a very caring cousin who just put on a tough guy act for everyone else, I'm not sure if I did it justice...<strong>

**Let me know what you thought with a review :)**


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